Madness
by EndlessThyme
Summary: The jewel is done. The world is safe. Almost.


Madness

_Disclaimer:I own all the I encompass. Which means just about nothing, seeing as I'm far to shot to encompass much. May those who are taller enjoy owning Inyasha. Too much work for me._

She stood, body taunt, bowstring still quivering from the arrow just loosed from the weapon. Her eyes stayed on the smoking piece of ground where her adversary had just stood. She took deep calming breaths as the small bead that had caused so much trouble for her and the people she traveled with called to her from across the clearing.

She walked towards' the glowing pearl, and slowly reached down to pick it up. As her fingers touched the small, powerful object it slowly turned from the pulsing shade of purple to an even pale pink.

She reached into the neck of her shirt and pulled out a glass phial in which rested two more pieces of the shifting orb. She clasped all the pink shards in her hands, fusing them together with a small flash of power. When she opened her hand, the finally complete Shikon no Tama shone like the moon on a starless night within her cupped palms.

She stood staring at it as if the only one in the world.

A voice barked through the stillness.

"Finally! Give it here, Wench!" Her eyes flew upward, hand clenching around the jewel. Inuyahsa's hand was held in front of him, waiting for the girl to hand over her hard won power. Impatient when she took too long to do his bidding, he stepped forward, reaching to take it by force.

Her voice whispered through the darkness on all sides. Blowing in through the trees and rolling up through the ground and while her lips didn't move, it was obvious that it came from her.

Inuyasha froze. Eye's widening, he slowly looked at the girl who had just defeated his archenemy. He quickly regained his composure.

"What does it look like, Bitch? Taking the Shikon to make my wish."

This time it was laughter that the wind carried, forcing the water in a nearby stream to bubble with joy and not a little bit of cruelty.

Inuyasha's eyes widened again, and he looked more closely at the young girl. As he stared into her deep blue eyes, and saw what he had been trying to deny for weeks now.

He had been pushing her so hard for weeks now, pushing her beyond her fragile human bodies limits. She hadn't seen her family for two months, and he had been comparing her more and more to her incarnate trying to get her to work harder. He had been leaving a lot, trying to get closer and closer to Naraku, looking for a weakness, or even just a ticklish spot. Inuyasha had forced her to drop out of school, and just three weeks before, he had told her mother that she had died in a battle and sealed the well on his side so she couldn't leave.

The brook bubbled at them again, harder this time, and completely devoid of the joy that had been there at first.

Inuyasha shivered again, glancing around, looking for an exit, any exit. Suddenly Kagome was gone. Inuyasha spun, as if to run, and there she was. Her hair dancing and the air currents, her eyes empty and full, lost and all knowing.

This time, the question that rumbled from the earth was palatable, and a mocking smile played on the edges of her mouth.

Inuyasha stuttered, his fingers toying with the hems on his sleeves, but still, he continued to argue his point. "It's mine! You promised! I will have it!!" His voice was a howl, and he dove for the girl, hands outstretched, fangs bared.

This time she shimmered, she body going translucent, and his attack moved through her, causing no damage on the way. She turned, her body once again solid and, bringing a foot to his back, kicked, before slowly and calmly explaining things step by step.

Inuyasha's guttural bark echoed around the small clearing before he said, "Who cares if my wish isn't pure bitch?! I just wanna be a full youkai, I don't care about no damn jewel disappearing or shit like that!!"

Now the wind sighed, it's fingers combing her clothing, and her tired blue eyes were filled with sadness. She looked so exhausted, and shook her head, beautiful orbs downcast, lashes just grazing her cheeks. She brought the tiny thing that had caused so much damage to intercept his gaze, and what she said this time reverberated off every corner of the universe. Then she smiled, a mocking smile, but still so heartbreakingly kind and vanished. No blur and sparkles, no shimmers. She there and then not.

But it wasn't as if she had never been there, in everyone's minds her parting words still echoed.

_"A wish is always selfish, or there would be no reason to wish it."_

And though they did not seem overly touching words, and yet, like a tiny porcelain bell when hit with an equally tiny hammer, they rang true. Because what is it but human nature to do things for oneself, and not for others? Are not many acts of kindness but a relief of guilt? Is not revenge a way for another to feel your pain? Is not pity a way of understanding that others have it much worse than you?

And so it is with the Shikon. If you are forever doomed to protect a burden that can only be removed by a pure wish, is not any wish you may make for your own good, in hopes that it may remove said burden form your life?

The old Kagome would have laughed at the though, but the new one had said it.

Through it all, the wind blew, the trees rustled, and the brook flowed.

_Sorry about the spelling. No beta... and though my vocabulary is unusualy large for my age, I can't spell half oft he words in it._


End file.
